Million Dollar Man
by StardustIsMagic
Summary: Looking back on it now, she supposed it had been some twisted form of fate that he had taken a seat in her section. - Two shot. Sasuke/OC
1. Chapter 1

_I Don't Know How You Get Over Someone As_

_Dangerous, And Tainted, And Flawed As You._

_You're Screwed Up, And Brilliant,_

_And Look Like A Million Dollar Man_

_So Why Is My Heart Broke?_

* * *

"What are you staring at?" Suigetsu spoke loudly, eyes only slightly narrowed at the waitresses outright open stare.

"Why do you look like a shark?"

To this day now, Aiko still had no knowledge of the fact that she had been the first person to cause Sasuke Uchiha to crack some form of a smile for the first time in months on that day. Suigetsu glared at their waitress, not offended by her question, but more annoyed with her audacity. Her green eyes held within them nothing but curiosity, and when she realised she would receive no form of an answer from the missing nin she continued with taking their orders. At this point she had barely even looked at the Uchiha boy, choosing to flicker her gaze between Suigetsu's unnaturally sharp teeth and her notepad.

Looking back on it she supposed it had been some twisted form of fate that they had taken a seat in her section. She was sixteen at that time, living on her own and working as the youngest waitress in the small restaurant. Naïve to the workings and ways of ninja's, not that she ever wanted to be one, for even she knew she hadn't the stomach for their job. It was during the summer when he had stepped in, with his companion, white hair and teeth as sharp as a shark.

What you must understand is this; the people of Aiko's small town had no knowledge of clans, it was a remote place, consisting of very few villagers. Their town so incredibly small that barely enough people occupied it to solicit town gossip, their stores and restaurants were prone to be a common stop for missing nin. People in Aiko's village kept to themselves in that sense, for they had no business in meddling with ninja politics, they served their customers and continued with the day.

He supposed that was why Aiko had struck him so much upon their first encounter, for when she eventually looked to him expectantly, awaiting his order, the look she gave him was not one of fear for who he was, or admiration, or respect or lust. The look she gave him did not affiliate with his heritage or reputation as a missing ninja at all, she looked at him plainly. That was it.

Her gaze was simply expectant as she waited for him to mention his order, and once he had, in his concise and monotonous voice she had turned away from him. Smiling at the both of them as she tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear, and recited her mandatory lines of how their wait wouldn't be too long.

That was the first time Aiko Akiyama and Sasuke Uchiha had met, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

* * *

The fifth time Sasuke returned to the restaurant was several months later, their customers beginning to filter away as their nights came to an end. He would never admit it, but he enjoyed the feeling of anonymity within Aiko's village, the feeling of being treated _normally_. By then Aiko had expected him to appear at least once a month, and upon seeing his mass of black hair and cloak at the back of restaurant she didn't bother with taking his order, and instead placed it on his table silently, smiling softly towards him before walking away.

That was the second thing about Aiko that caught his attention; she didn't pry. Not just with him, but with anyone who came in. She didn't make unnecessary conversation or nosed around, she left you to your devices, almost as if she could sense when people wanted to be left alone. He couldn't remember the last time someone had simply _let him be_, no questions asked and no following. Orochimaru was prone to doing both, almost as if he enjoyed irritating the young Uchiha boy.

It wasn't until two hours later, when they had begun to shut the lights off that Sasuke had realised it was their closing time. He looked up to Aiko blankly, noticing her apologetic smile as she begun to speak.

"Sorry to disturb you, but we're gonna close in a few minutes – do you want me to wrap that up for you?"

"No, thank you."

He shook his head in refusal as he murmured quietly, lifting the plate and handing it out to her. Taking it with a small thank you, and walking back to the kitchen, it was the second of a long list that she had unknowingly managed to cause from Sasuke; politeness. He was gone when she returned from the kitchen, the entire restaurant now deathly silent as her and one elderly waitress begun locking up the place.

"See you tomorrow Hitomi," Aiko said softly, tucking her small hands into her winter coat, smiling brightly towards her superior.

"Goodnight dear, have a safe journey." It was a farewell that the elderly woman always gave Aiko, despite their small town being absolutely harmless, but the woman worried for her like a grandmother would.

She could see her cold breath in the night air as she walked, predicting in her mind that snow would soon begin to fall in the next few days. She continued her walk in a daydream, imagining her footprints become present in untouched snow, feeling the incredibly small flakes land in her hair and the tip of her nose. Aiko had always loved the winter.

Despite the lack of trouble within Aiko's village, along with the fact that Sasuke could feel no threatening chakra of the sort within the vicinity, he still continued to follow her home in the darkness. Just in case.

* * *

"You always get Donburi here; don't you want to try anything else on the menu?"

It had taken almost a year, but somehow Aiko had found herself attempting actual conversation with Sasuke, although she still didn't know his name. His onyx eyes stared at her for a moment, noticing how she stood a little away from his table, as if sensing his dislike when his personal space was invaded. She spoke with that ever present smile on her face, not too large or small, but the just the perfect size to make you feel comfortable. It was merely friendly. He appreciated that.

He sighed quietly, before staring back at her blankly, "what would you suggest?"

She hadn't expected him to actually take her up on her offer; he had constantly come across as the type who did not appreciate being bothered. At all. So as she stood there for a few moments, attempting to actually think up a response for the silent man, Sasuke took that small moment to actually assess her features.

The girl was far from average looking, her eyes such an incredibly bright shade of green it brought back unwanted memories of an old team mate, images of pink hair and petty fights between team seven invaded his head. He forced them back to the deep recesses of his mind, baggage he no longer needed to hold onto. Aiko had a habit of always pulling her hair into a clumsy bun atop of her head, strands always coming loose around her neck, ones that she usually didn't care to tie back up. To him, Aiko seemed like the type of female who cared for her appearance the least, her bland colours of clothing and lack of make-up had proven that a long time ago for him.

She was a subtle beauty, one that should she have been born into a different clan, with money or even a slightly more respectable name she would have appeared vastly different. She would have attracted several eyes, she would have dressed fare more feminine and would have been trained to be the perfect housewife and partner. Sasuke preferred her exactly how she was though.

"Uhm, well – our chef, Akira, he makes really good Yakizakana. How about that?"

Sasuke retorted with a curt nod. Truth be told he hated Yakizakana, it was something his mother had made for him whenever he felt sick, in turn the memory filled him with so much anger that he preferred to not indulge in it. However, the thought of voicing his dislike for it to Aiko almost made him feel guilty, and he hadn't felt guilty in a long time. It made him uncomfortable, and he wanted to scowl at her, but he failed to understand why. People like Aiko were always beneath him, that's how he had always thought of normal civilians. Too weak to even make usage of chakra, too scared to even try. Yet somehow Sasuke thought nothing of the sort for Aiko, it was annoying. She seemed so incredibly fragile _all the time_, and the type of nice he knew would have usually annoyed him.

She was just _too_ good.

So instead of telling her no, he remained silent, and let her smile at him once more before dashing to the kitchen.

It wasn't until later, when she had come back to collect his plate, that she attempted to speak to him once more.

"What's it like? Being a ninja?"

The question startled him, for the curiosity in her eyes was so incredibly evident that she almost seemed excited. She wasn't even looking at him in that moment, but at his katana, he had shed his cloak the moment he had stepped in that night. The heavy rain he had been travelling through had soaked it, and so it rested upon the stool beside him. His katana was placed in between the ropes of his attire, shirt slightly agape and revealing his chest. Even in that moment Aiko still hadn't paid a single glance to it, her green eyes were completely transfixed on the katana.

He was silent for a long time, mostly because he didn't know how to answer it. How did you answer a question such as that? It wasn't fun, it wasn't tedious, and technically he was no longer a ninja. There was no way to describe it, he had lived his whole life with just this one thing, and it was all he knew. He didn't particularly choose it; it was simply bestowed upon him.

He settled for the only answer he could think of.

"Eventful."

She made an inaudible sound of agreement, easing down to take a seat opposite him. She placed her chin into her hand, voice sounding like that of an eager child, and Sasuke couldn't help himself but to find it endearing.

"I can imagine, what's the most dangerous mission you've had? If you're allowed to say that is."

Sasuke kept details to a minimum, his answers short and concise. The only real stories he had of missions was when he was in Team 7, so sitting there and re-telling stories about that brought on one the most unwanted form of nostalgia. Aiko had begun to form an unintentional habit of that, arising emotions that he had thought he buried. He briefly spoke of the mission in the mist, leaving out his sharingan activation, and the details of his team mates. His eyes flickering back to Aiko's at certain moments, her interest never ceasing, and at no point did she ever seemed deterred or offended by brusqueness. Sasuke deemed her as possibly one of the most patient women he had come across, though his experience was limited.

It continued that way, her firing questions and Sasuke answering simply, only ever so often rambling. It made him feel nervous slightly, and almost disgusted with himself, he was becoming _comfortable_ around Aiko. That behaviour wasn't allowed, becoming comfortable meant allowing your guard down, and allowing your guard down meant creating bonds. Bonds were something he could not afford to have. At least not until Itachi was dead; they would do nothing but drag him down.

* * *

He felt completely stupid, he didn't even understand why he had bothered, and it was so pathetic that he could hear Suigetsu mocking him for the rest of his life. It wasn't as if he'd thrown any particular effort into it, he had overheard Aiko talking about her birthday – her 17th, to be specific. It wasn't as if he had planned on actually getting her anything, which would have been beyond a joke. Uchiha's were not the sentimental type.

It was on a simple whim. Orochimaru had sent him on a job, kill a clan due to a traitor in their family. It was simple enough, and Orochimaru was not one for mercy when people did not meet their end of a bargain. Especially when he had invested a fair amount of money into something. The necklace had been there, on the dressing table, untouched and small. The chain was silver, and the centerpiece a small sapphire. It was nothing extravagant, yet simple enough to suffice as a gift for Aiko. It wasn't as if anyone would be using it either, and in his mind it would have gone to much better use should she actually like it enough to wear it.

She had reacted more positively that he anticipated, which in turn made him feel embarrassed and out of place. He hadn't even wrapped it up, simply handing it over to her, murmuring a "for your birthday," as she took it from him.

The grin that graced her plump lips was so incredibly wide that her entire set of teeth were present. She was even bold enough to envelope him into a hug, one that had taken Sasuke so off guard and made him so uncomfortable that he hadn't returned it. Not that she expected him too; she had gathered that he wouldn't be one for physical interaction. Hell, he was barely one of social interaction. Nevertheless she hugged him, and tightly at that, before letting go and thanking him. She stared at the sapphire, her voice in slight awe of the gift.

"I've never had anything this nice before."

Her words caused a stir in his stomach, though he let no indication on, but it made Sasuke feel slightly guilty. For what exactly? He didn't know. It almost saddened him to witness someone so incredibly _good_ and soft say that, feeling as if she deserved better. That she deserved better than all of this, than her job or her home, and she deserved a far better gift than what he had offered her. Yet she remained grateful, and it _annoyed _him.

Aiko put on the necklace then and there, wearing it almost proudly as she continued on with her shift. Sasuke would never admit it, but it pleased him.

* * *

"We have a debt to collect," yelled one of the men, swiping the entire contents of one of tables onto the floor, he proceeded to flip over the table, scaring customers and the staff as he did so. "And we're not leaving until we have some help with it."

One of the waitresses trembled in fear beside Aiko, the both of them seated on the floor as they had been ordered to. Three men, clearly from the same clan, all with visible scars on their faces, distinct features of their noses and chins let on they were related, small in size and flat chocolate hair. The largest of the three held up a copy of the bingo book, proceeding to open it and rip out a page. His assailants dragging random hostages towards their leader would shove their faces into the paper, and Aiko watched as they were each probed on if they recognised the ninja they were searching for.

"My sources tell me you have a frequent visitor to this village, so someone better speak up – or you'll all be losing your tongues."

Aiko's eyes drifted to the spilt contents of the table beside her, the smashed plate in the perfect shape for a weapon. She hadn't exactly been thinking ahead with the plan, only that she would have felt more secure if she had it hidden in her grip. She squeezed her friends hand softly, before quietly crawling towards the plate, which was less than a metre from her. She was hidden amongst the other smashed and turned tables around her, the restaurant now an unrecognisable mess. The little money the owners had put into it now a complete waste.

Her hand reached for the shard, fingers gripping onto it and wrapping around it. She was startled, a small yelp of pain emitting from her lips as a boot slammed down on top of her hand. Making it slice into her skin as the plate cracked into smaller pieces, she looked up in shock, seeing the youngest of the three grinning sadistically.

"We have a feisty one here," he laughed out, grabbing her by the roots of her hair and dragging her out into the open, "thought she was slick."

He crouched down to his knees, nose burying into her hair, making her skin crawl. She was afraid.

"Pretty too," he commented, "maybe when we're done here, we could have a little fun."

She involuntarily let out a pained sob, from the pain of his grip on her hair, and the dread of what he was insinuating. No man had ever touched her before, and at that thought she felt his free hand trail her collar bone and into her shirt.

"Please stop," she sobbed out, attempting to fidget out of his grip.

"I like them scared," he muttered darkly, chuckling with his brothers as the eldest walked towards her.

"I take it you're local," he said, holding up the paper from the bingo book and pushing it into her line of sight, "do you recognise him?"

It had taken her a beat too long to realise the face of the criminal on the paper, his face was recognisable even as a young adolescent. Uchiha Sasuke, that was his full name, it was strange how she had never wondered what it was until she actually knew it. To her he was just Sasuke, the ninja who sometimes stopped by, who sometimes allowed her to sit and talk to him. He was the quite boy who had gotten her the very first piece of jewellery she'd ever received, who had caused an onslaught of butterflies in her stomach the very moment he had given to her. Never would she have imagined that he was an S Class criminal.

And when she had forced herself to not give a visible reaction her hair was tugged on, the hand of her captive still buried in her shirt. Making bile rise in her throat and feat constrict her entire body, she was unable move. Frozen in place.

"Answer him."

She looked up into the criminal's eyes; her voice trembled with the fear from his penetrating gaze. A gaze so incredibly sadistic and enraged she failed to form words for a few moments; whatever Sasuke had done … she knew it was unforgivable.

"No," she whispered, "I've never seen him before."

He stared at her for a long moment, glaring, as if he were contemplating whether he believed her or not. He almost stepped away, almost uttered from his lips for his comrade to release her, until his eyes caught the shine of the jewellery around her neck.

Everything happened in slow motion then for Aiko, ripping her away from his partner's grip to wrap both hands around her neck. His strength was unfathomable to her, for a few moments she was in the air as he raised her up, before smashing her back down into the already splintered table beneath her. The pain and gravity of the impact momentarily dazed her, and it took her far too long to come to her senses and realise she had begun bleeding from her head. The criminal never ceased his choke hold on her, causing tears to spring from her eyes in the pain, fear and the fighting need to breathe properly.

"WHERE IS HE?!"

"Wh- who?" She choked out, feigning innocence despite her incontrollable trembling, which only fuelled the anger of her captive.

"UCHIHA! THE MURDEROUS BRAT WHO GAVE YOU THIS!"

Tearing the necklace away from her, he held it in her line of sight for a brief moment, the third and quietest member coming to stand behind him. He took it from the eldest calmly, examining it in a childlike manor before his eyes narrowed towards Aiko.

"Hitoshi, this was mothers. Father had it made for her when they were engaged. There are no others of its make. She knows where the Uchiha is."

Hitoshi's face became so unbearably close to Aiko's that his alcohol drenched breath filled all her senses, suffocating her and blinding her. Still she begged, and still she persisted that she had no idea of who Sasuke was, taking beatings to the face with the loudest screams she had ever emitted from her lips. It wasn't until Koushun, the most disgusting of them all, pulled his brother away, a sickening amount of glee evident in his voice.

"I'll handle this," he chuckled out, watching in amusement as she attempted to crawl away from them, barely moving an inch due to her weak nature. "And I'll make her talk."

"I don't know anything," she sobbed out, her eyes widening as her eyes caught the shine of the kunai he withdrew from his pouch, "please – please I don't-"

"SHUT UP," he shouted out, his hand darting out to cover her muffled screams, grinning callously towards the slightly older waitress across the room, her face contorted into horror as she sat there. Frozen.

This wasn't supposed to happen; it had supposed to have been like every other night. The rules were always the same, for closing there was always two waitresses; one to lock the door and the other to clear the tables. The only chef they had, Akira, spent that period cleaning out the kitchen. It was routine, it was always the same. This sort of thing just didn't happen; trouble was never brought to their town. Rukia wasn't like Aiko; she wasn't brave enough to even look at a way of escaping this. And she certainly wasn't brave enough to lie about knowing who they were looking for. She couldn't understand it, failing to comprehend why Aiko was enduring so much to simply protect a clear criminal.

She watched in horror, tears streaming down her face as the kunai Koushun had withdrawn from his pouch was used to cut Aiko's dress apart. It was clear what they all expected to come of it, only Koushun seemed to be far more sadistic than she initially thought. For the moment her dress was ripped apart, exposing Aiko's bare stomach and underwear, he begun carving into her skin.

The screams that had escaped Aiko's lips was one that could have awoken the entire street, the agony in what he was doing evident.

He had begun carving words into her skin; things he deemed amusing yet degrading, jagged letters that pierced the skin deeply, scarring her in a way that brought him joy. His belief that if his family should suffer great lengths, then so should the Uchiha's.

"Keep still! This takes a lot of concentration." He laughed out, though his words were drowned out by her pained cries.

Aiko could think of nothing, say nothing, and do nothing but scream as the pain evaded her every thought and being.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Sasuke murmured, dabbing the blood stained cloth on the wounds on Aiko's face. And Sasuke attempted to convey in those two words that he meant so much more than just a simple apology.

He was sorry for giving her the necklace, he was sorry for getting her involved, he was sorry for putting her in harm's way. He was sorry for getting there too late. He watched her silently cry for hours as he cleaned up her wounds, wrapping her in gauze where he could and placing ointment on the wounds that were etched across her stomach, wounds that would permanently scar.

She had been unconscious when he arrived; mostly likely passing out due to the amount of pain she had been in. It had become a bloodbath from then on, slaughtering the brothers in the most gruesome and painful way that he could imagine in his rage. It was a type of rage he hadn't felt in a long time, a rage that consumed every vein in his body and every muscle and piece of him that he attacked in frenzy. He hated to think that if he hadn't of cut his training early, if he had stayed instead of giving into the urge to go to the restaurant that far dire consequences would have happened to Aiko.

He used the cloth to wipe away some of the tears, unable to offer any other forms of comfort, for Sasuke wasn't one for physical interaction, nor was he one for words. Sasuke had never had to be the one that others emotionally depended on, so now as he sat in the bathroom of Aiko's apartment while he cleaned her wounds, he found himself at a loss of what to do.

Aiko hadn't looked at him since she had awoken, choosing to remain silent as she curled in on herself, eyes remaining on the cold floor. She was startled for a brief second when she realised that Sasuke had brought her to her home, for she had no idea how he would have even known where her home was. Her fear was cut short by the knowledge that of course, he was a ninja, and the affection she has guessed her harboured for her would have had a hand in where she lived.

She would be the first to admit that she had no idea who Sasuke really was, she didn't even know if that was his real name, but she had trusted. She had trusted him based on his actions regarding her, she had always lived by the philosophy that if people were good to her then that was enough, only she learned on that night that it wouldn't always be enough.

"Who are you?" She whispered, wincing as the gash above her eyebrow stung her, still unable to look up to Sasuke.

Sasuke faltered in his movements, hand remaining still and above her eyebrow for a second. His hand then dropped, and stood from his kneeling position in front of her. He took a few steps back, his face stoic and making it impossible for her to decipher what he was thinking, or if he was going to say anything at all to her. He simply stood there, staying down at her, and the silence remained between them for what felt like hours until his lips parted and he finally spoke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm an S-Class criminal, I've been a missing-nin from the village of the Leaf for almost five years now."

The silence that descended between them after that was palpable, and though his face remained unchanged Sasuke's breathed remained hitched in his throat as he awaited some form of a response from Aiko. He was almost anxious, almost, of whether she would allow him to explain himself further.

"Go on… tell me everything." She eventually said, her voice low and soft. She trembled slightly, and Sasuke perceived it to be out of fear, so he took another step back from her before he carried on.

And that was exactly what he did; he told her everything, from the slaughter of his clan by his brother, to the choice he made to leave Konoha in order to become stronger so he could destroy Itachi. He deliberately gave as little detail as possible when mentioning Naruto and all of Team Seven, not wanting to expose himself any more than he already. It scared him to be able to speak so freely, to openly tell someone so much of what he had withheld inside for such a significant amount of time. Only he felt as if he owed it to Aiko, she deserved the truth, especially when she had suffered so much punishment when trying to protect _him_. Something she had no obligation to do, but she did, and she had endured imaginable pain because of it, and yet here she still was attempting to hear his side.

When he finished he almost wanted to take a deep breathe, reluctant to admit just how liberating it felt to have unloaded all of what he had just said, as if he were allowing someone to shoulder the burden with him. It was a terrifying concept; trusting someone. It left you open to so many dangers, you were allowing yourself to trust that if you fell at any point, that they were dependable enough to catch you, that you would have someone already waiting there. That's what he was doing know, falling in the vain hope that Aiko would open her arms for him. He supposed to she had done the exact same, because she wouldn't have allowed herself to be put in that amount of danger if she didn't.

When she finally did look up to him, eyes clear of tears and with a new found confidence on her features she spoke evenly. Her voice quite yet confident and he knew she wouldn't repeat herself.

"From now on, if you ever want to see me again, you need to be completely honest."

* * *

**Heyyy, I don't know where this came from really - but it's just going to be a simple two shot spanning over the time that Sasuke was missing from Konoha. It'll just be a small few scenes here and there pretty much showing the progression of his and Aiko's relationship. I hope you guys enjoy, I really loved writing it! **


	2. Chapter 2

_I Told You That No Matter What I'd Be By Your Side,_

_But When You Walked Out The Door A Piece of Me Died._

_Then They Took You Away, Stole You Out of My Life. _

_You Just Need To Remember That_

_I Will Love You Till The End of Time, _

_I Would Wait A Million Years. _

_Promise You'll Remember That You're Mine. _

* * *

She could feel him before she could ever see him, and Aiko meant that literally. He usually crept in during the dead of night, his calloused hands wrapping around her while she was half asleep, or he would brush strands of hair behind her back and inhale her scent in the crook of her neck while she cooked. Little moments such as that, which had at first startled her, had become her most treasured memories. The most alive she had felt in her incredibly mundane life.

He never really said much, but he was always there. Always listening. Seeking solace in the warmth of her embrace, a feeling of contentment when she ran a hand through his hair soothingly, telling her stories of the store. How well it's rebuilding was coming together, and how much she just loved to sit there sometimes and watch him. He didn't even hate it when she woke him from his dreams, memories of that night as a child, and soothed him by caressing his cheek. Saying nothing.

Because she understood, she _just knew _that talking was unnecessary with him, and unwanted. No words of wisdom or comfort could calm the thirst for revenge, or the storm of hate in the recesses of his mind, nothing ever would. Not even her love. She knew that. And for that, he loved _her_. But he wouldn't dare to say such things, never out loud.

She never knew exactly when he would visit, but she could always count on at least twice a month, three times if lucky. Though she supposed it depended on how occupied he was with his work, which she preferred to never ask about. In that sense she liked to believe that ignorance was bliss. She found him to be this magnetic hybrid of everything that was dark and beautiful in the world. Every miniscule detail that caused pain and fear, and every little contribution to make natural things such as sunsets to be so mesmerising, had willing flowed into him. She could feel them both in the way he held her, and see it in the way his forehead creased while asleep and the way his lips softly pressed upon her skin as if she were an incredibly fragile sculpture.

To her, something as beautiful as Sasuke Uchiha had no place in this world, but was lucky enough to get a glimpse at him. A fire as bright as him was never intended to last. And it scared her.

Which was why, when the inevitable happened, she was too afraid to even look at him.

"I can't resolve whatever problem is bothering you unless you speak, Aiko."

She looked at him from her spot by her sink, the sleeves of her shirt rolled up as she leaned against it, watching him eat quietly at her pitifully small dinner table. He wasn't even looking at her, and instead his eyes were cast down to the table, barely making a sound as he chewed on his food. He liked her Nigiri the best apparently, though never actually claiming that, it was the only meal he ever really finished eating, and at an alarming speed. So she made loads, filling his plate up with it, and he never uttered a word over it.

She shook her head of her irrelevant thoughts, wrapping her arms around herself, as she stood straighter. Though she always felt so small in comparison to him, and not just physically. His presence made her feel as if hers was barely noticeable.

"I- I … I've been trying to find a way to say something, but I was always so afraid-"

"You don't need to be afraid, I'm here." His words cut through her own, and were cold, yet she knew the meaning behind them. She knew from the start that Sasuke would never be comfortable with words of any sort.

Nevertheless, his interruption had irritated her, and the next time she spoke there was more bite in her tone.

"Like you were back at the store? Stop interrupting me. You asked me to tell you what was wrong, so let me finish speaking."

He stopped eating then, coal eyes finally focusing on her and listening, really listening. He placed his chopsticks on the table, hands resting on either side of his plate. He took in the deep frown on her face, and the creases of worry on her forehead. How she almost couldn't fully look him in the eye, and how she seemed to be shying away from him. She was afraid of _him_.

"Sasuke, I- …. I'm having our child."

The silence that took over the both of them was so incredibly painful for her to endure, especially seeing no reaction on his face. She hated how unreadable he was, and it scared her more than anything in that moment. She tried to swallow back the lump in her throat, and blink back the tears as he continued to do nothing but stare.

"Please, please tell me that this isn't bad news. I kn- I know you have other priorities, and I understand. But please, please tell me you're happy. I need you to tell me that you want this, that we're going to be-"

She was interrupted with his abrupt standing, the legs of his chair screeching back as he walked briskly towards her in long strides. He placed his hands on the sides of her head, and placed a kiss on her forehead. His lips lingered there for what felt like hours to her, her hands grabbing small fistfuls of his robes.

"The only thing I will ever ask of you Aiko, is to never fear me, and never to fear telling me the truth."

She nodded silently, no longer trying to hold back the tears that had been beginning to be released, and closed her eyes when his lips kissed the tears streaming down her cheeks. Whispering soft and sweet things to her, things she had never thought he would have uttered from his lips, but was sharing with her at such an intimate and fragile moment.

And he did what she never thought he would have, he uttered the words she had yet to hear from him in their year together.

"The woman I love is bringing our child into this world. You will not be afraid, not anymore."

* * *

When Aiko had finally accepted that Sasuke was gone, it had been four months after that evening. He'd only returned twice after, barely even present for her Morning Sickness, which she believed should have been renamed to All-Hours-of-the-Day Sickness. But he had attempted to be there, and despite not knowing just what Sasuke did in his time away from her, she guessed that she had pretty much been a secret from his other life.

She ran through those times in her mind, trying to find an irregularity in his behaviour, trying to find the moments where he may have been pulling away. Her paranoid and emotional mind had been insistent on it, because he wouldn't just leave. He wouldn't do that to her.

Yet here she was, sat on her bathroom floor as she sobbed, admitting to herself that he wasn't returning. That she'd lost him. One hand caressed her slowly growing stomach, the other covered her mouth to stifle the loud sobs as if there was anyone around to hear her. The worst scenarios of how he could have died swept through her mind, what his last thoughts could have been, and if they were about her.

She knew the risks, she knew what she was getting herself into the moment she chose to love a man like himself. She knew she'd probably have to eventually live a life without him. The vendetta he held against his brother, or the criminal life he lived, those were paths she could never follow him down, and she knew he'd die from one of them eventually. She just hoped he'd get to hold their child at least once. That she could have that image of the three of them together in her mind at least.

She'd made the mistake of loving a man who couldn't be loved, because he didn't want to be, not right now at least.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quietly, through her sobs as she bowed her head towards her stomach, the tears streaming uncontrollably, "I'm so, so sorry."

The high-pitched wailing could be heard throughout the entire street, and at such an early hour in the morning Aiko momentarily wondered how no one had complained about the noise to her yet. Though, she supposed, there was no way to silence a screaming new born, much less one suffering from Colic. Tears streamed down her face as she held onto her son, the bundle in her arms hadn't stopped for over five hours.

As it breached dawn, Aiko had collapsed to the floor, still attempting to soothe her little boy. She had gone past the point of exhaustion, and stress, and as her own silent crying increased, she wondered if her life could possible get any worse.

Colic was not a term she had been familiar with until she took Takeshi to the Doctor, his screaming and insistent crying had been abnormal from the start. At first she feared there may have been something severely wrong with him, some pain that she couldn't relieve him of, or some illness that had no other telling other than his constant screaming. There was no cure for Colic, since it wasn't necessarily an illness either. At best, all she could do was attempt to soothe him back to sleep, which took hours.

She looked down to her son, small face red due to his wails, chubby cheeks soaked in tears. Even then, however, despite it being so early on, she couldn't help but choke back a sob in pain due to his uncanny resemblance to his father. His raven hair had just begun to grow, but the rare times his eyes were open it revealed dark obsidian pits that made Aiko feel like he too was staring into her soul.

She attempted another strategy, and returned Takeshi back to his crib as she attempted to rock it gently. Only the screaming seemed to intensify, at least to Aiko, ears ringing and head throbbing from the severe lack of sleep from the moment he had been born.

"I don't know what to do! I don't know how to help you, just please stop crying!" She sobbed out, though her voice was barely audible through his screams.

She collapsed beside the crib, still using one hand to gently rock it as she cried uncontrollably. Both mother and son, unable to keep their tears at bay in the dead of night.

A knock at the door momentarily startled her from her crying, and she sat there staring into the hallway confusedly, certain that she had only just imagined it. Yet another few taps at the door convinced her otherwise, and almost dazedly she stood, picking Takeshi up once again and holding him closely to her. His screaming paused for a moment too, but Aiko knew better than to release a sigh of a relief, because as soon as he settled into her chest his wailing returned quickly.

She dragged her feet towards the door, her sore body crying in protest but the curiosity to who could be at the door pulled on her.

It was her neighbour, Chimi, a frail old woman who had lived on her own and owned Aiko's small apartment. Aiko had prepared herself for this moment, had her apology and plead for forgiveness ready for when Chimi would knock on her door and state that the noise was unacceptable. Instead, to Aiko's surprise, the woman looked at her in sadness. Her wrinkled face taking in Aiko's tired and red one, noticing the tremble in Aiko's lips and the redness in her eyes.

"Are you okay, dear? Do you need help?" Her voice was low, as if she had been awoken from her own sleep.

The guilt consumed Aiko, but the relief overtook it and flowed through her uncontrollably. Her shoulders sagged and her sobbing returned, and all she could was nod vigorously at Chimi's question as she stepped aside to allow her in. Barely able to vocally express her gratitude as Chimi took Takeshi from her arms, encasing him in her small, frail ones expertly. As if she had done this her entire life, softly patting Aiko's shoulder as she turned her back on her, and slowly walking towards the bedroom.

"Rest, dear." Her voice drifted from the down the hall way, "God knows how much you need it."

She barely managed to make it to her small couch, collapsing onto it face first. Yet she couldn't find it in her to sleep, she could still make out Takeshi's screaming, and the guilt of sleeping without him having any rest kept her wide awake. So, instead, she just lay there in her exhaustion. No matter how tired she may have felt, she undoubtedly knew that her son was twice as tired, and it made her heart hurt.

Just like every other day, she sat there and wished for the impossible. She wished for the one thing she knew couldn't have. She wished he was there, with her.

* * *

"Ehhh, Sasuke, this place is a dead end. Why would you bring me here?"

Naruto grumbled, bright blonde hair glistening in sweat due to the heat. It was the middle of summer, and despite the season being a time for everyone wanting to be outside, the village was still just as Sasuke remembered. Quite.

He ignored Naruto's comment, walking past the restaurant he was so familiar with, yet now it seemed so foreign. The layout had slightly changed, but the clientele and staff hadn't. The small space of it all had allowed him to see completely inside, and his stomach dropped slightly at the realisation. She wasn't here.

"We stopping to eat? I'm starving! Do they do Ramen?"

Sasuke continued on, casting his head down as he followed the familiar path towards Aiko's apartment. He heard Naruto mutter once more under his breath, only by this point, after everything they had endured together in the past year, fighting was no longer a commonality. Sasuke had agreed for Naruto to join him on his travels, yes, but under the condition that he didn't nag him for conversation. His left hand was tucked into his pocket, in the six months since he and Naruto had left Konoha it had almost healed.

He'd never admit it, but he was actually almost nervous. It wasn't that he was afraid of the reaction that Aiko may have, but more so that he was aware of the cruelty of what he had done to her. However, he reasoned, it wasn't as simple as him and Aiko living happily together and beginning a family. When she had told him, he had still had so much left to do, so much unfinished business. He couldn't drag his lover and child around for years while he searched for his brother.

Aiko's news had more or less kicked him into gear, had awoken him from a slumber he didn't know he was even in. He had to kill Orochimaru, and then his brother, and finally he would be free to live out his life as he pleased. With Aiko.

Only he should have known things wouldn't have been that easy, that killing Itachi would unravel far more secrets that he wouldn't be aware of. That he couldn't truly leave Konoha behind him, or Team Seven. Especially Naruto. He had to sort his affairs into order, and it had taken far longer than he anticipated. Two years longer to be exact. His chest ached, though an emotion like that was difficult for him to acknowledge. He had spent so long pushing out emotional pain, that upon Aiko entering his life he was almost afraid to admit it existed. The thought of losing her was too much to bear, so he was obligated to leave her out of this. To take care of everything else, and then return to her. So that she could remain safe, and happy.

He wondered if she'd even accept his return, if she would welcome him with open arms or turn him away. He had planned to have returned before their child was born, except now he had missed out in almost a year of their child's life. Was it a boy? Or a girl? He always thought that he'd want a boy first, to begin the Uchiha Clan with the correct heir. Only now he found himself not caring, it all seemed so inconsequential now. He simply wanted at home once again, with Aiko and with their child. Hopefully, Naruto could be part of that too.

And now, with Kakashi pardoning him, he was free to return to Konoha. He didn't plan on doing that without her.

"Where are we going you bastard?! And I swear, if you give me the silent treatment _again _I'll-"

"Just shut up and follow me, idiot. There's someone I want you to meet."

* * *

Luckily for Aiko, her day off from work had actually been just that. With Chimi taking Takeshi for the afternoon, and with most of the apartment already clean from the night before, all she had left was to clear Takeshi's toys away and she could actually get some sleep.

His first Birthday was only a month away, and to no surprise of hers – considering who his father had been – he had already began learning how to walk. It hurt her to admit, but she was already beginning to see glimpses of his personality resemble that of Sasuke. He didn't throw tantrums, or cry a lot – after those first three months with Colic he actually began to calm down in demeanor.

Now, whenever he felt he wasn't getting his way, he simply glared at his mother silently. Instead of it being threatening or infuriating, however, it only made him more endearing. Since the baby fat was only just beginning to slip away from his cheeks, but his dark eyes always seemed to hold a boredom with his Aiko whenever she refused him something he wanted.

And whenever he didn't want to eat whatever meal she had made, he'd simply turn his head away in defiance, thin lips pursed. It actually astounded her how quickly he had accumulated a personality such as that, but with a talented ninja for a father, she guessed she shouldn't have been entirely surprised.

Her chest still ached at the thought of him, and at night she still sometimes quietly wept. He'd left a gaping hole that she knew would never entirely heal, not with his carbon copy walking around that she loved so dearly.

A soft knock on the door pulled her from her musings, and she picked up the last of Takeshi's toys before she made her way to the front door. One hand free as the rest carried all his teddy bears and plastic horses. She blinked away tears that she hadn't realised had begun pooling at the corner of her eyes, and readied a smile on her face for whoever was waiting on the other side. Chimi, most likely, she may have forgotten one of Takeshi's binky's.

She opened it, ready to force a laugh at whatever she had to say, only when her eyes locked onto dark ones her hands dropped the entire contents of Takeshi's toy box onto the cold floorboards. Her breath remained hitched in her throat for a moment too long, unable to understand whether she was hallucinating, or if she was actually seeing the man on the other side of the door. She shook her head in disbelief, taking a step back and almost stumbling.

He didn't smile, or show any visible emotion, not that she would have expected anything less under usual circumstances. His eyes, however, were different. Not both obsidian like she had originally thought, one was different pattern, a completely different colour. Dark grey and in several ringlets. Yet despite that, despite looking into those eyes, he didn't even flinch. Instead, he just breathed out her name, as if it had been the first time in a long time that he had said her name.

She said nothing for several moments, not even registering the blue eyed blonde behind him, who had slowly begun to realise exactly who this girl was to Sasuke. Naruto's mouth seemed to widen with every second in mere shock at the thought that Sasuke would have been romantically involved with someone. Involved enough to want to come and _find her_.

Sasuke took in with mild distaste the new frown lines that appeared on her face, along with the bags under her eyes. She looked worn out, almost broken, and his stomach dropped in guilt at knowing it was because of him.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but a harsh slap across his pale skinned cheek was definitely at the bottom of the list of reactions he expected from Aiko. His face barely moved, as he was used to far more damaging blows than that, but the shock still remained, the only telling of that was the slight widen of his eyes. Naruto, however, wasn't as subtle, verbally voicing his shock in a mild shriek as he looked from Aiko to Sasuke.

She slapped him again, on the opposite cheek, and this time with more conviction. He watched as the anger began to seep out of her, as her eyes began to well up, and let her repeatedly hit him. He owed her that much. Her slapping soon turned into thrashing on his chest, both of her incredibly small fists beating down on his chest as he looked down to her slowly soaking face, towering over her. Yet for the first time she didn't appear to be intimidated by his height. No, just angry.

"I thought you were dead!" She said repeatedly, between every blow.

"You let me think you were dead! You left me on my own, with- without even a goodby-bye! And you let me think I had lost you!" She cried through her tears, her blows becoming half-hearted as she let the heartbreak take over, and Sasuke did nothing but silently take it, knowing the damage he had inflicted.

Apologies, especially in front of company, were not his area of expertise. He waited until her blows became pitifully weak, and just before her knees buckled he took hold of her, supporting her weight as she fought against his chest and cried. His heart dropping to his stomach, and the foreign feeling of it startled him. Was this was guilt, or sadness, felt like? Would he consistently feel this way until he had repaired her own heart? If so, he was willing to try. Because only know did the gravity of the situation settle in. He had broken her.

* * *

**Heeeeeey guys, I'm back! So I know I said this would originally be a two-shot, but that didn't actually go to plan. I think it might just end up being a short story of about 3 or 4 chapters. I think it'll just end up being three though. But I hope I've still got you guys engaged in terms of characterisation, I've attempted to keep Sasuke as in character as possible, but if I haven't please let me know! I was surprised with how well responses for this were, so I hope I haven't lost that from you guys! **


	3. Chapter 3

_The Bed's Getting Cold and You're Not Here, _

_The Future That We Hold Is So Unclear, _

_But The You Disappear and Make Me Wait,_

_and Every Seconds Like Torture._

_There's A Million Reasons Why I Should Give You Up,_

_But The Heart Wants What It Wants._

* * *

"Are you eventually going to look at me?" Sasuke's monotonous voice rang out in the silence in a matter of fact tone.

He stared at Aiko, across the table from him, as she stared at her hands. They were shaking, she eventually realised, and whether that was out of fighting her more tears or anger she no longer knew. She inhaled a deep breath, taking her hands off of the small table and onto her lap, and looked up to face him. Eyes hard.

"I mourned you," she said steadily, though the anger and hurt was evident even then, "I was still mourning. I cried myself to sleep every night thinking you were dead, that you had been taken from me. I spent every night wishing that by some miracle you would come back to me."

"I did-"

"You left by your own choice. You left, knowing that was when I needed you most, and you left without even explaining or saying goodbye. How can I forgive that?"

He remained silent, mulling over her words, and wondered just how wounded she may have felt. He'd spent so long cutting off things as trivial as emotions that eventually finding Aiko scared him. He left to deal with his own problems, yes, but now he began to think that he left out of the fear of losing her. Of reliving the pain of what it was like to lose his family the first time around. Yet how did he explain that to her? When he could barely admit that he loved her.

"You shouldn't have to." He said simply. "You shouldn't have to forgive me, and I shouldn't have the audacity to ask for it. I don't deserve it."

She scoffed, the fire returning in her eyes as her anger began to rebuild itself. She was glad that his blonde haired friend had known to leave, and not be present for this. It was a personal moment that she'd rather not have a stranger present for.

"How could you do that to me? How could you do that to our son?"

"We have a son?" His voice peaked slightly in tone, but only just. And he was unable to ignore the surge of joy that exploded in his stomach at the thought of a son, someone that was half of him.

"Like you ever even cared."

"Aiko, I left because I care. I care far too much for me to admit, I was not going to pull you into the demons that I had to face alone."

"Shut up!" She snapped, a fist banging down onto the table as she stood from her seat. "I don't care about your goddamn demons. I don't care for it when you had an obligation as a father. It wouldn't have been as bad if Takeshi wasn't involved, if he didn't exist at this point. But he does. He was supposed to be ours, you were supposed to put your child first. You left me alone to deal with that, you left me alone with a new born who suffered with Colic for three months! Do you even know what Colic is?"

She rambled on, not giving Sasuke a chance to respond. There was no point, because he would have said 'no' anyway, and that only would have angered him more.

"He spent all hours of the day and evening screaming, crying. Barely sleeping! And I couldn't do anything to stop it, I had to sit there and hold him and just watch him suffer. Do you even know how hard that was? Do you know how hard it was to see him in so much pain? I needed you! I needed you through everything and you. Weren't. There. Our child was sick and you were off filling your quest for revenge!"

She sobbed and Sasuke's response was to stand from his seat, and to walk towards her. He stood beside her, not touching her, and simply looked down at her, waiting for her to look up at him. He let her cry for a few moments, knowing that she would recoil from him if he dared touch her. He couldn't push her, he needed her to forgive him, only he couldn't seem to find the words to explain that, so he waited. Hoping she would understand that.

"I don't deserve to ask for your forgiveness, but I am going to anyway. Because I'm selfish, I always have been. I hope, regardless of that, that you'll still have me."

She closed her eyes in pain, taking in a deep breath as she processed his words. The pain was unbearable, but she couldn't deny the craving for him, the need to close the small space between them and to let him hold her. For that she hated herself, because despite the thousands of reasons to walk away from him she simply couldn't.

She composed herself, wiping away her years with the back of her hand before she took a step back and looked back up to him. Still partly unnerved by the grey eye on his left, it was like looking at a completely different person, yet the same person still seemed to be inside of him.

"I don't know if I can forgive you," she said quietly, and despite the lack of expression on Sasuke's face, he felt his heart sink, "but I'll try."

Without even realising it, he let out a small sigh of relief. One that Aiko realised, and it made her feel slightly good to know that despite his behaviour he may have been suffering on the inside.

He then asked, almost timidly, like a child, "… can I see him?"

"No." Her tone was quick and simple. "I don't trust you. You can abandon me, but you can't do that to _my_ son." Sasuke almost flinched at her phrasing, yet knowing she had every right to make a statement like that.

"His Birthday is in a month, if you stick around long enough, you can meet him then. I will not introduce you to him, and have him form an attachment only for you to leave. I will not have my son thinking he wasn't enough for you, like I did."

It pained him to think that she would truly ever believe that, only he couldn't blame her. How could he? He'd left without so much as a wave of farewell, and he'd owed her more than that. He'd never hated himself more than in that moment, and he would hate himself for the rest of his life if he lost her now.

"I understand." He nodded, and he began to turn away, taking those last words as his queue to leave her home. But he wasn't leaving town. If he had a trial month to stick around, then he wasn't going to let her down. Not this time.

"He likes toy horses, or teddy bears." She said quietly, and he turned his head, stopping for a moment as she continued. "He likes to have them fight each other, which is kind of worrying for an eleven month old. Then again, he's your son. And don't get him the cheap kind, or the ones that tear easily. You will get him something shiny, something expensive, and you will sit there and you will play with him. All day if you have to."

He half smiled, forcing himself to not show a full one at the thought of meeting his son. Meeting someone that belonged to the both of them, and nodded in confirmation. He waited a moment longer, feeling as if she still had more left to say.

"I would have married you." She said after a brief silence, solemnly.

Sasuke turned his face away from her, unwilling to let her see the evident pain in it. His façade now crumbling. He had destroyed what they once had, but he wouldn't give up until he had repented for it. Instead, he left her with three words, the determination in his voice leaving a lasting effect on her as he walked away and out of her apartment.

"You still will."

* * *

Naruto watched his childhood friend, and despite silence being a common thing for Sasuke, he still noticed the aura of morbidity surrounding him. It still startled him that there was actually someone out there who could evoke this sort of reaction from him. Someone who could mean enough for him to return and want them to return to Konoha with him. He was glad, despite it not being him or Sakura or even Kakashi, that someone had kept his heart from going completely cold throughout his years away from the village.

That he had still allowed someone to know the most vulnerable parts of him. That was an accomplishment, especially for a civilian – a damn waitress, he might add- to do that to him.

"So… you're a dad? Damn, Sasuke." He breathed out, eyes wide as the news of it still failed to settle in for him. Sasuke. A Father. To an actual human child.

When he'd spoken of restarting his Clan so boisterously, he never imagined it'd ever actually happen. Especially with a woman he appeared to actually care for, if not love.

"A son, supposedly. Though I can't meet him just yet." He said simply, though Naruto noticed the tenseness of his jaw as he spoke. It was hurting him to not be able to meet his son.

"She doesn't trust you, huh?" He responded, folding his arms on the table as his knee bounced up and down, he was eager for his Ramen. Sasuke had said that Aiko's restaurant actually had good food. "Can you really blame her?"

"No, I guess I don't." It was actually weird for Naruto to hear him sound so… resigned to it all. He didn't think he'd ever seen him upset over something other than the topic of his brother, family, or power.

To have it be over a woman was bizarre, to say the least. He didn't think he'd get used to it any time soon.

"Not to sound rude, but …. why her?" His curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he genuinely wanted to know. He prepared himself for a glare from Sasuke, except he received the opposite. A simple tired sigh, as if he were anticipating the question.

"It's just she seems so…so…-"

"Unremarkable?" Sasuke finished for him, and though Naruto didn't confirm that was the word he was looking for, he simply looked away in embarrassment. Scratching the back of his head in discomfort.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have made the same statement." Sasuke mumbled, voice almost monotonous. Only it had been far too much of an overwhelming afternoon for him to completely cloak his emotional pain. "But these are not normal circumstances, and neither is she."

"What is it about her, then? I gotta' ask, I'm dying to know."

Sasuke shook his head in slight annoyance, but mostly amusement. Only Naruto seemed to be able to lighten his moods, although he'd never tell the idiot that.

"There's not really any words to appropriately explain it. She brings me peace, after a life time of war, and pain. To me, she's home."

He said nothing after that, and Naruto ultimately knew that was all he would be getting out of him. It was more dialogue than he could have hoped for when it came to Sasuke, especially in regards to Women. Well, one of them at least. He watched his friend sit there, face resigned as he barely chewed on his meal. He guessed this was the result of Sasuke repressing romantic emotions for so long, he was going to be stuck with a broody teenager until –hopefully– she took him back.

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of pride for his oldest friend, he had grown so much, had found someone he actually wanted to create a future with. Someone who he thought of was home, for the first time –in a long time- Naruto was jealous of Sasuke.

* * *

He wasn't exactly sure what to expect when he'd eventually meet his son, but an overwhelming and crushing sense of emotion wasn't his first prediction. Whether it was joy, fear, love or all three of them, they were weighing down on me like a boulder would during a rock slide. He'd held his son at arms-length at first, the both of them staring at each other with wide dark eyes.

It terrified him to say, but Sasuke could only see himself in his son. He imagined that was what he looked like when studying someone he didn't fully know. The look of suspicion on the one year olds face only lasted for a few minutes, however, before a grin spread across his face. His small fingers reaching out to be pulled closer to Sasuke. Without even questioning it, Sasuke did as his son commanded. Afraid that if he looked across the room to Aiko that he would let a few traitorous tears fall from his eyes.

His son was hugging him, albeit his arms barely fit around his neck, and instead his tiny hands grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt on his shoulders. But he was hugging him, as if he was so sure of the fact that he was his father. The smug part of Sasuke wanted to say that Takeshi had inherited his clear intelligence from him, only he was already on thin ice with the woman who had his heart. Today had to go off without a single mistake. He refused to fail his family.

His family. The phrasing was so alien and knew to him, but he decided that he liked saying it. He was ready for it.

The inescapable feeling of guilt eventually settled in as he watched his son bounce around in his arms, seeming eager to walk around, but not stray too far away from his father. He had missed so much. Had missed his sons first kick, and birth, and his first steps. He'd only managed to remember his own Mother talking about how monumental and important those moments were. And he'd missed nearly all of them. He'd never be able to make up for that, but right now, he promised himself he would try.

He'd become a father that both Aiko and their Son could be proud of. He would no longer put himself first.

There were not many people at Takeshi's first Birthday; a few ladies from the restaurant, Aiko's neighbour and Naruto. Pitifully small, actually, but then Sasuke supposed this was a lot for people such as Aiko, who knew nothing but the peacefulness of this town. He only hoped she would be willing to move to Konoha, where they could begin being a real family.

He watched as she fed each guest, Naruto diving for the large plate in her hands whenever she neared him. Of course, she was a perfect host. Accommodating to everyone but herself, only occasionally letting her eyes wander to Sasuke and Takeshi, almost as if it were precaution. Though it hurt to know she didn't trust him with their child, he also couldn't particularly hold that against her. The fact of the matter was she knew far more about parenting than he did.

"You surprised me today," she said quietly, later, when her guests had left and she was washing the remainder of the dishes.

Aiko had left Takeshi to Naruto, who she surprisingly liked more than she thought she would have. He defied every preconceived opinion she'd ever had of ninja's. Naruto was warm, open and free-spirited, and it radiated off of it like a glowing light. She adored him, much to Sasuke's pleasure. There were very few people who didn't like Naruto. Even Takeshi had taken to him tremendously, in fact, he followed the blonde around like a lost puppy.

For Naruto it seemed that the effort to fit in was non-existent, and seeing that happen so easily with the woman and child he loved so dearly made the childish part of Sasuke slightly jealous.

"How so?" He responded, quietly. Simply standing there and watching her, he had missed being able to do that. How something as simple as watch her do menial tasks could bring him such contentment.

"With Takeshi, with everyone who was here. I don't know, I just wasn't expecting you to make such an effort to … socialise I guess. You really did try."

"I meant what I said a few weeks ago," he said quietly, tone matching her own to avoid Naruto eavesdropping, "I have every intention of remaining with you, of marrying you."

"Sasuke-"

"Don't say anything now, I understand you still have your reservations. I'm just reminding you."

He left the small kitchen, returning back to Naruto and his son. Leaving Aiko to stare at his retreating figure.

* * *

**This has ended up being a lot longer than I originally planned, so they may just end up being one or two more chapters. Still hope you guys are enjoying this! **


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